EP Review: Mother

Dead Cherry is a Wellington four-piece that has been on the scene for some years as a covers band.

Now dipping their toes in the water of original material, Dead Cherry – Jodie Gummer (vocals), Beau Redding (guitar), Andy Russell (drums), and David ‘Chops’ McIntosh (bass) – have released their debut EP, Mother, and it’s clear they enjoyed getting their feet wet.

It’s always refreshing to see musicians branch out into original material. Even if you know they do a stellar job at covers, moving into the realm of original music can be a little daunting.

I’m pleased that Mother is a gem full of strong starts and great potential.

The EP contains four carefully curated tracks – at times tentative, but full of gumption and passion, which is the most important thing when it comes to creating new music.

Let’s dive in with the title track, and newest single, Mother. It has the grit, a slow build that oozes rock n roll swagger, and strong, powerful vocals from Jodie. In addition, the music video for Mother is also gritty, and keeps that rock n roll swag to it with plenty of long shots that give it a Super 8-style feel. Dedicated to the craft, Jodie fully commits, singing in the shower, completely soaked, and makeup smeared. Stylistically it’s raw, musically it’s solid and the tension is there, but vocally, I want more.

The single and video are fantastic – full of edge – though the vocals feel a little lacklustre to me.

However, Don’t Run doesn’t falter. With a beautiful melody and gentle vocals, it really shows depth. It’s a very sweet ballad that isn’t afraid to show softness which is always a nice balance in rock n roll.

House of Cards takes the edge off again. It’s lyrically emotive and well rounded. It doesn’t need to have grit vocally, but would it have also worked as a softer ballad like Don’t Run? Yes.

Overall, I feel Mother has a strong foundation for what promises to be a more refined sound over time, and there’s no doubt that Dead Cherry have an exciting future ahead of them.